Experience with the circulation path as a determinant factor in evacuation exit selection

Building evacuation can be challenging due to complex environments. A cognitive map is one of the most influential factors leading to different strategies of egress for individuals, yet there is little discussion about how pre-event experience influences individual exit choice. This study explores how pre-event spatial experience influences the evacuation exit choice. We conducted a semi-structured interview with a single evacuation drill involving 70 participants in a shopping center in Bandung, Indonesia. Participants were asked to choose an exit point in an evacuation scenario and were then interviewed about their reasoning. Analysis from the video footage of the evacuation and interview transcriptions showed four pre-event spatial experiences that influenced individual exit choice: habitual path preference, past traverse experience, access to the building, and associative events. Four elements from pre-event spatial experiences from this study are accessibility, familiarity, orientation ability, and social interaction influence exit choice. The findings contribute to the understanding of interaction between visitor behavior and circulation path. They provide insight about how experience forms familiarity as an important aspect in determining evacuation route. Lastly, this paper discusses the behavioral explanations underlying these findings and areas for future work.